I. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns refuse collection vehicles, generally, and, more particularly, refuse collection vehicle auxiliary mechanisms in the form of container handling devices, specifically cart tipping or lift and dump mechanisms which may be associated with front, side or rear-loading vehicles used for residential collection. The container handling device of the invention is a self-contained system that requires only an electrical connection to a source of power on the vehicle.
II. Related Art
Technology related to refuse collection, particularly related to residential refuse collection, has advanced rapidly and significantly in the last several decades, owing to changes both in the carts or containers themselves and the cart tippers or handling devices. Thus, in residential rubbish collection, for example, traditional galvanized metal trash containers formerly emptied by hand into rear-loading refuse packing vehicles have been replaced by locally standardized wheeled cart-type containers made from synthetic materials which have a hinged lid and integral tipping bar that permits mechanical manipulation for lifting and dumping. These carts typically are larger and heavier than those formerly emptied by hand (up to 500 pounds) and are designed to be wheeled on two wheels up to and addressed by compatible cart-tipping mechanisms mounting on refuse vehicles which grab the tipping box, lift and invert or tip the carts to empty them. The tipping bar of the cart is typically positioned so as to be hooked by a fixed element of the container tipping mechanism which is thereafter operated by a driver or other member of the collection crew to lift, dump and return the container to an upright position at the end of a receptacle emptying cycle. The cart may then be wheeled back to its former position.
Such cart-tipping mechanisms have been commonly associated with residential refuse collection, rear-loading refuse vehicles in which they are mounted on the rear of the vehicle and connected to both the vehicle electrical and hydraulic systems. Such devices are shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,565,305 to Schrafel. More recently, front-loading and side-loading refuse vehicles have also been used for residential refuse collection. Front-loading vehicles include a pair of lifting arms which have a pair of corresponding lifting forks attached to the free ends of the arms and which engage channels in the sides or bottoms of box-type trash containers to facilitate lifting the containers over the cab of the vehicle and dumping the contents into the vehicle body. The lifting arms and forks are typically operated by separate sets of hydraulic cylinders which are manually controlled by the vehicle operator.
It is known to mount a box-type refuse collection container or “carry-can” on the front of a front-loading refuse collection vehicle which itself carries a cart-tipping mechanism which empties residential cart-type refuse containers into the refuse collection container mounted on the front of the front-loading vehicle. The carry-can is then periodically itself emptied into the body of the vehicle in the manner of emptying commercial-type refuse boxes. An example of this is shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,167,795 to Bayne et al. That discloses the mounting of a lifting device 20 on different types of collection vehicles including front-loading vehicle where it is attached for emptying carts into relatively larger collection box 46. A further side-loading mechanism is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,931,628 to Christenson. These devices must also be hooked up to the truck's electrical and hydraulic systems for operation.
While prior cart-handling and tipping devices successfully collect refuse, they have several drawbacks. Such devices which make use of the refuse vehicle's main hydraulic system require the vehicle to maintain an elevated idle speed to maintain the required hydraulic parameters. The addition of one or more such devices may even require a larger hydraulic system to be installed. Accordingly, there remains a need for a cart-tipping mechanism that is self-contained and includes its own hydraulic system needing only an electrical hookup and that can be used with any type refuse collection including front, side and rear-loading types and, thus, is easily added to a refuse vehicle.